Venerable Martyr Jonah (Sankov)

Venerable Martyr Jonah (Ivan Andreyevich Sankov) was born on 20 July 1873 in the village of Solchino, Ryazan province, into a merchant family. In 1893 he entered the Russian St Panteleimon monastery on Mount Athos, where he was tonsured with the name Jonah and ordained hieromonk. In 1914 he served at the monastery's dependency in Constantinople and, after the outbreak of war with Turkey, returned to Russia, serving at the monastery's dependency in Odessa and later in other churches of the city until they were closed.

In 1930 he moved back to his native area and became priest of the Kazan church in Alpatyevo. In 1937, when the authorities planned to close the church, the faithful prevented it, and he was accused of 'counter-revolutionary agitation'. Arrested in February 1938 and held in Kolomna, he refused to admit any guilt. On 7 June 1938 an NKVD troika sentenced him to death, and on 4 July 1938 he was shot at Butovo near Moscow and buried in a common grave. He is commemorated on 21 June (4 July, new style) and in the Synaxis of the New Martyrs of Butovo.